Show HN: Screentop.gg – a platform for tabletop games
screentop.gg
screentop.gg
Screentop is a tabletop sandbox that supports cards, dice, boards, counters, and hidden player state. In the future I'd like to add scripting support so that more complex game mechanics and rules can be implemented.
Client stack: Typescript, React, Apollo, and a custom react-reconciler renderer that targets canvas
Server stack: Elixir, Phoenix, Absinthe
Happy to answer any questions and would love your feedback! Also I have two asks for HN:
1) Content - if you know any designers or publishers that would be interested in creating digital versions of their games please direct them my way!
2) Individual(s) to team up with - this is a solo side project right now but I'm interested in working with others, technical or non-technical, to see where this goes.
Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/wva8ebh Email: david@screentop.gg
2) Does the site "evaluate" the game state? (Know who's turn it is for example.) Sorry, I have no one to play with or I would try your site.
2) It doesn't currently enforce game mechanics like player turn.
I'd really like to know more on how to specify a game for your platform. A scripting language is a good idea, but I'd like to see it limited in scope. You don't want your board games to just become video games. I never could figure out where exactly those limits should be.
I think you are on to something here.
I want scripting to allow specific mechanics that would be more tedious to perform manually. For example: Draw N cards based on the value of a dice roll. Or to potentially move a turn token around from one player to the next after an action is performed. Haven't though too deeply about implementation yet though.
Serendeitgeist
I'm a boardgame designer and a member of the NYC Playtest group. I don't personally do virtual prototypes, but of those who do, Tabletop Simulator is the one they all use. I'm curious what you see as the key differentiators between your app and Tabletop Simulator?
I’m not even going to mention your tool to anyone until you’ve made a commitment to full mobile support.
A question though, how do you plan on dealing with the inevitable cease and desists as people create unofficial versions of their favourite proprietary games or even games using copyrighted properties?
As far as I know, some game companies...cough cough...wizards of the coast...cough cough...among others get kinda protective of these things.
"Screentop is a digital platform for tabletop gaming. Choose a game, invite friends, and start playing directly in your browser." Is there actually any 'tabletop' in the gaming? Is it for playing virtual (tabletop) boardgames? Do you play with your friends over the internet, or is it a local multiplayer situation?
I'm sure the answers to these questions are painfully obvious to you, but as a visitor to the site, an about page to help orient me would be much appreciated. :-)
For now try it out by clicking the Play button on one of the games such as: https://screentop.gg/@BrotherMingGames/code-geass
Also just posted a few screenshots on the product hunt page which may help clarify: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/screentop-gg
I second the call for having more info on the site about what this is, it looks very interesting
You're probably aware of this library, but I highly recommend boardgame.io [1]. It also provides React components.
I’m in an FFG SWRPG game right now that uses roll20 (to show the map, handle rolls and character sheets, etc...) and discord (mostly for voice and text chat, because roll20 isn’t as good at those things).
We are moving over to a different discord server that doesn’t use roll20 for any of their current games, but would give us a much larger group of people to potentially play with. Of course, there are things that discord doesn’t do that roll20 does.
But if I could point them at a free solution that could take the place of roll20, that might be a boon to the entire larger community.
Do you have any videos showing current gameplay? Or any intro videos showing how to use the system?
Are you prepared for the incoming wave of DMCA takedown requests if this proves to be popular?
If someone spends the time to create content for this platform, how can they be sure that it won't shut down next week?
Can players create private content, such as for a D&D campaign?
If a player starts using content created by someone else, and it gets taken down for either copyright or because the author removed it, can that player continue to use that content?
In fact, can an author remove content at all?
Is there a system in place where the legitimate owner of an IP can create content for this platform and monetize it in some way? Tabletop Simulator may be a den of piracy[0] but there are some games for sale there as well: https://www.tabletopsimulator.com/games
[0]: Ignoring that some number of users own the physical game and are merely playing with friends who are not in the area. Legally it might be piracy (IANAL), but ethically there's some discussion to be had there.
Are you prepared for the incoming wave of DMCA takedown requests if this proves to be popular?
I don't expect this to actually happen but if it does, I would comply.
If someone spends the time to create content for this platform, how can they be sure that it won't shut down next week?
This currently runs on just one server and even with the incoming HN traffic, the server utilization is pretty low. This won't cost much to keep running.
Can players create private content, such as for a D&D campaign?
Authors can create private games. This means only they are allowed to create a room. Rooms themselves are only semi private (the 4 digit code is guessable) and will expire after a period of inactivity. Not sure if the current setup would work for private D&D sessions but would love to support that use case.
If a player starts using content created by someone else, and it gets taken down for either copyright or because the author removed it, can that player continue to use that content?
If the game itself is deleted, all rooms of it are also deleted.
In fact, can an author remove content at all?
Yes, authors can delete their own games.
Is there a system in place where the legitimate owner of an IP can create content for this platform and monetize it in some way? Tabletop Simulator may be a den of piracy[0] but there are some games for sale there as well: https://www.tabletopsimulator.com/games*
At this stage I expect most games to be from hobbyists who want others to playtest their games or kickstarter creators who want to offer a digital game copy to backers. Would be open to creating opportunities for monetization if this gets more traction.
Focusing on adding more features and growing the site at the moment. Hope to license official games eventually.
The licensing thing is a big thing though. But I think the publishers don't mind as long as the games are well presented and don't have a digital version yet.
We've been trying to work through Risk: Legacy, Pandemic, or other, longer-run games (I would think Axis & Allies and other longer-run strategy games as good candidates for this thing) in-person for years and it's hard to find the time.
It'd be awesome to be able to continue things on a platform like this, but would obviously necessitate creating a version of the game on the platform first. I like the concept!
Hopefully one day publishers will put some of those games up on Screentop!
Also you can shop digital version of board games like Terraforming Mars in Steam.
Another major difference is that this is 2D, which should work for most tabletop games but not all.